Container



April 1953 w. c. GEORGE ETAL 2 ,634,038

A ril; 7, 1953 Filed March 25, 1952 w. c. GEORGE ETAL CONTAINER 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 m a lfer C Gear e J/z Bousque iwm fl ATTORNEYS April 7, 1953 w. c. GEORGE ETAL 2,634,038

CONTAINER Filed March 25, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet :5

IN VENTORS ATTORNEYS a 4 me a 0, w r w m .4 h V 0 S. FO ow Q u n Na! u w 1 0 A 2 C B S 4. f A w m d m n W M L A a u Q 0 I E R l. 1 E w ...w G E R m wf o m T. E N G m C w T 2 w 5 w w JJ m 2,. 1. h 11 w 7 m d m. A m

Patented Apr. 7, 19 53 r Bousguet, fllost on, t'l'ex., :assignors to Gay-lord Container Corporation, ,St.,Louis,lMo,,.a corporation ofjMaryland Application 'March 25, 1952, serial No. 278384 Olaims. (Cl..229-1-4) This invention `relaites tainersthat :are at least :four Jfeethigh, :and

particu larly :to containers 'that fare-five or .more

feet in height.

' These improvedcontainers, which are apreferably :made :from acorrugated fpa'perboard or nother suitable material, are particularlyadaptaible 'for packingxshipping and.storingmaterialsand commodities therein'whi'ch have inherent cold flowing characteristics after being fplaced the -contain'e'rs. i. Syntheticribbeniorinstance, is typic'al of thesamaterials. :Synthetic 'ubber, tvhen packed in relatively tall containers, has a :tendency sto moldi iiow fiand spread :nut flateral-ly, 'iGS- pe'ciail ly near the bottomof the containerthereby exerting great pressure on the walls of thelcontainer, :especially the lower portions thereof.

Containers fabricated :in accordance with the present tinvention, -while :requiring only ``a minimum quantity of materials, proyidezthemecessary r'e'inforcement 'at the lower or 'bottom portion thereof so that the -expansive :forces or :thrust exerted `:by the synthetic rubber blocks therein will :not disru-pt or obj ectionably :distort the Walls of athe Container. Moreorer, :the wall structure of the containerisisuch that the synthetic rubber 'blocks :that fare packed and stored therein may =bereadi1y :removed by a :few :simple manipulations hereinafter set foriih.

Containers which :embody the present .;in-vention are different :from `vprior art frelatively tall containerswhich :merely gprovide :a multi-ply wall throughont in i order to attain the :necessary :reinforcement or rigi'dity of' thosewalls. In these prior art containers, are :commonly used to' pack frag'ile :rayon ccones, ith'e plies :of paperboai d *or the 'li'ke forming the walls are usually parallel-and of the :same height. ln instances wherethe Walls are adividedtheplies :are ain-edgewise aibuttin g relationship and *are vertically ali'gned as .distinguished from the wall :structure of thepresent :c'ontainer which variesfin thickness', 01' in 'the number :of wa l'l p'lies, :from the bottom :of :the acontainer rto :the top. presentconta'iner eomprises a -flanged *bottom trayfsection a plurality zof sleevesfof different heightsfinftelescoped or inestedzrelation, each of said sleeves having its` bottom iedge :in

` substantiallyfcoplanar relation 'ovith ithe :bottom pan'eliof said bottom'traysection. `tl'fhisarrangement forms a p'lurality oi' wall asections :disposed one a'bove fithe other. 'The nppermost -wal-l :sec-

has the leas'tnumber .:of plies, preferably at least one additional ply. The lowermostwall 'to new and useful -consection :has -a thickness equal :to the combined thick-ness :of all the fsleeves plus the thickness of :the fupsta-nding flange of thebottomtray seation., The present fcontainer requires no steel bands, staples, glue, or fother :fastening neaaus for securing the sleeves and bo.ttom ftray section together. p

[In efiect, 'the wall structure of the presenteonthe Container, having the greatest thickness or the greatest number :of plies of material.

Heretofore the aforesaid :blocks of synthetic rubber, which blocks weighyabotfi to 85,pounds each., fhave been individually dusted with talo, soapstone o' some other material and placed tin individual mu1ti-.wall paper :bags to prevent the blocks from :adhering to the bags cand -to each other whilestacked. About 1000'.to 1200 fof :the

ndividual blocks inthe bagslconstitute a full carload shipmentfrom the :place of manufacture of the :blocks to the point o f-processing vwhereat the :blocks .-must be removed from :the bags and the blocks individually "washed or l otherwise treated so ,:as 'to remove :any pieces-of paper, talo, soapstone or the like ``before 'these blocks -.can be zfurtherprocessed, -as desired. Theremovalof the blocks :from --thebags and the -remoual of the paper, ftalqesoapstone, :etc. from the :blocks linesent i an objectionable problem; viz. :in iunpacking the blocks from the bags, clouds 'of talo, 'sea-9 stone or thelike result which of course is very objectionable 'to the individuals :removing :the blocks' from the bags :and ;also -aothers inrthe plant and, fimoreover, the vtraces fof paper, talo. or the'like must be'thoroughly removedffromfeach bloc'k before processing. lncidenta lly, the acost. of the talo, soapstone or the like and its application to `'and -removal from the rubber bloc'ks, and' as well *as the labor required to` remove the blocks from the bags and the 'piecesof *paper 'and-*talo from the 'individual blocks, before fprocessing, 'is expensive, time consuming and troublesome. Until the' containers of jt'he present application were invented, it was believedimpracticable t pack and ship the aforesaid rubber blocks paperboard:containerbecause themere provision of a multi-wall for fmulti-ply paper board .-,-contain-er would not :serve :the pumose fforshipping.

a multipli-city :of these blocks, :for instance :30 o-r more :blocks :which :total :about 20.00 :or 12500 pounds, `because the .,weight and the teman-2 sive thrust adue to the `cold fiow'ngmharacteristics of the blocks after being placed in the containers.

In order to ship the 1000 to 1200 blocks in the hereinbefore mentioned paper bags, the bags containing the blocks must be stacked or 11 layers high in the car. Thus it is necessary that the present containers be at least four feet high and preferably' of a 'greater height so that 10 or more rows or layers of the blocks are in each container. Therefore, the same number of blocks can be shipped in car-load lots as were the blocks in the bags. f

By utilizing the containers embodying the present invention, all of the difiiculties in the handling, -packing, shipping and unpacking of these rubber blocks are Overcome. In utilizing the present containers, the rubber blocks may be encased in Pliofilm or other protective material or media which is compatible with rubber f and are simply placed in superposed layers in the containers at the point of manufactur of the blocks and are shipped directly to a plant for further processing. The rubber blocks so shipped can be readily removed from the container and do not require any treatment precedent such as washing or otherwise rendering the blocks ready for processing.

One-of the principal Objects of the present invention is to provide a paperboard container which is sufliciently strong to hold a great weight of material which cold flows thereby exerting great lateral pressures on the walls, especially on the lowermost portions of the Walls.

Another object of the present invention is 170 provide a container having unique wall structures which are thicker at the bottom of the container than at the top of the container.

' Another'object of the invention is to provide a container having unique-wall structures which comprise a plurality of wall sections disposed one above the other, each of saidsections being of substantially uniform thickness throughout and each subjacent section being of greater thickness than the section thereabove.

Another object of the invention is to provide a container including unique wall structures of stepped formation, the various steps in the wall structures defining horizontal sections, each of said sections being of uniform thickness throughout, but with the superposed sections bein lesser in thickness. Another object of the invention is to provide unique container wall structures formed by at least two telescoped open-ended tubular members, each of said tubular members being of different height, the lower edges of each of said members being substantially coplanar with a bottom closure, said bottom closure having a. wall portion of less height than the tubular members and being contiguous to and substantially conforming in shap with the lower portions of the tubular members.

Another object of the invention is'to provide' unique containers fabricated from a plurality of open-ended substantially rectangularly shaped telescoped sleeves of different heights and a bottom closure in the form of a tray with upstanding fianges of les height than the sleeves, and which wall' and bottom closure substantially conform to the outline of the ends of the sleeves and the said wall being disposed within the end portion of the telescoped sleeves..

' With the above and other Objects in view, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in the ClaimS hereto appended, it being understood that various changes in the form, proportions, and minor details of construction, within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to Without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention. v

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective view of the collapsed component elements comprlsing the container of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the component elements of Fig. 1 in an erected condition and ready to be assembled;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the completed container with parts broken away to show the interior Wall structure;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3 but broken away at a different portion of a front panel to further show the interior wall structure;

Fig. 5 is a view in perspective with parts broken away showin the lower section or structure of the container;

Fig. 6 is a more or less Vertical transverse diagrammatic view of certain products initially packed in the containers of Figs. 3 and 4;

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing the final relationship of the products packed within the container;

Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view along the lines 8-8 of Fig. 6 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view along the line 9-9 of Fig. 7 looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 10 is a view similar to Fig. 6 dlsclosing the same manner of packing the products in the container but a different arrangement of wall structure; and

Fig. 11 is a view showing the wal1 structure of Fig. 10 and similar to Fig. 3.

The invention will be more readily understood by referring in detail to the attached drawings wherein similar numerals or characters in the several figures all denote the same parts.

The container as a Whole is denoted generally at C and it is of rectangular outline. Here, it is to be understood that the outline or shape of the 'container may be varied in that instead of being rectangular, it may be of other polygonal outlines, for instance, square, hexagonal, octagonal, etc. and also circular or ovate depending. upon the requirements of the user.

The container C consists of a plurality of partially nested or partially telescoped elongated sleeves |0, ll and l2. These sleeves are each similarly formed from fiat blanks of preferably double-faced corrugated paperboard and are each vertically scored at their corners so as to enable the same to be collapsed, Fig. l, and to be set up into the tubular formation, Fig. 2. At one of the corners l3 of each of the sleeves |0, II and l2, the edges of the blanks are in substantial abutting and contacting... relationship and held together by a fabric or other similar glue tape l4, and this tape extends throughout the height of the respective sleeves. These tapes on the respective sleeves serve an` additional function or dual purpose later to be described. Instead of utilizing the tape for the purpose just described, obviously a conventional glue strip (not shown) coextensive with and carried by one of the free end edges of the blank maybeused; H

J'I'he formedsleevesi u, andl2 are' of differentmheights, the outer' sleeve I ll beingflof` the greatestflheight with the sleeve Il of an inter-` mediate height relative to the outer sleeve and the innermost sleeve l2, which latter sleeve is of less height than the two previously mentioned sleeves, as clearly shown in Figs. 3 and 4. With these threesleeves lil, ll 'and 12 in telescoped or nested 'relationship with eaohother, there Will result stepped inner Walls or a wall formation which in effect form different horizontal superposed sections or zones throughout the height ofthe Container. These sections or zones of the wall formations are designatecl 1 5, l l/B and Il and while these Zones or stepped iwall for-l mations are shown interiorly` in the -drawings, they may be reversed if desired so'` that the stepped formation will be exteriorly of the :con

tainer therebyforming stepped exterior walls.

`The container is completed by the addition `20-and 2 |*as seen in Figsi 2, B and 4. The tabs loosely overlap these end portions and there is preferably no positive connection such 'as by staples-or adhesive therewith but obviously some seouring means may be utilized if desired. v

ln effect, whenthe fiaps 20, 2l 'and 22, 23 are upstanding from the flat bottom 19 with which they are'preferably integral, there results a'n upstanding continuous flange or lowermost wall portion enclosing the fiatgbottom [9. This wall portion as a'whole is denoted at -24 and it, along with the complementally sized longitudinallyextending lower portion of the sleeves ll), Il and' IZ provides the bottom section or zone 21* of 'the Walls of the container which are those four-ply Walls at this said bottom. Immediately above' the aforedescribed section or zone `ofthe containenthere extends that portion of the sleeve [2 and that extending portion with a compl'emental, horizontally disposed portion of the adjacent sleeves lll `and ll thus provides a three-ply wall formation or section ll; and

above this sectionthe portion of the intermediate v sleve ll-that -projects'beyond the edge of the sleeve l2, along with a complemental horizontal portion of the sleeve l, provides the next adjacent wall section or two-ply section of the paperboard IB and beyond the edge of this intermediate sleeve ll; the remainder of the wall orsection l of thecontainer is constituteol by a; single-ply of the sleeve IO' to the top thereof, see Figs. 3 and 4.

The above mentioned association and novel combination of the`sleeveslwiththe tray at the bottom' thereof* results inthe Walls in the: wall formation of the container being of a stepped formation either interiorly or exteriorly of the container dependingyof course, upon whether the sleeve of greatest length ispositioned, exteriorly' or interiorly'of thev other nested sleeves and tray. This stepped formation of the wall structure of the Container therefore provides a horizontal reinforcement in the aforesaid separate sections or =zonesthat are superposed` and thus `opposes expansive forces laterally from whaterver products; material r or` `clommodities, in 7 5 numberiof these sleeves, will 'be determinediby the products, commodities: or :material that:`

to be packed in 'and unpacked from the -conr- :i tainers, `'and are, so fabricatecl as to enablea snug nesting or telescoping of these sleeyes onef, within the other with good frictional engagement a so that the sleeves will not become. aocidentally The :extreme :lower edges 10', H' vand 1.2' 'of the sleeytes 10.:

displaced relative toreach. other.

Il and 12 respectivelyare coplanarand these coplanar edges :are also ``substantially -copla'nar.

with the flat :bottom 3, 4 and 5.

The horizontal the lowermost section `24' of :the container formed by the tray wall i di-are actually :deflned by the :upper edges 1.6", all' :and J8' respectivelyf of the sleeves IE, :ll and the Walt-24 *Oili :hem

tray :and as seen in Figs. 3 `and a, the actual sections 15.; '16, I'I and *24' of the wallflformation thereby result. The respective. wall sections '263 il; lt and l are such that the lowermostvseotion 24' is constituted' of four pliesof the cor 2 rugated paperboard and` thus this lo'wermost section and the othersections are all of-tuniform thickness or are each comprisedof a umf; form number of plies of thepaperboard but the thickness or number of plies constituting these 'sections of l the container decreaseswfrom :the

lowermost seotionto the uppermostxseotion, 'or

stating` it another waypthe'thicknesslof the sections or; the number of plies increases from theuppermost section' to the `lowermost section.

While there is shown in the drawings an embodiment of the invention vutilizing the three telescoped or nested sleeves |,0,1l| and l2, along ith the wall structure 24 of, the tray which :in

thatwe have and are using,` or ifa heavier ori more rigid bottom tray section ispused; :Conversely, if morerigidity and reinforcement and a Container of greater heightlmay be desired, more than the said three sleeves, al-ongwwith the tray and its wall 24, 'might be usednand these sleeves may be telescoped or nested inwardly of the Walls as depicted in the. drawings Fig's. 3, 4,7 6 and 7 or they maybe outwardly disposed :to produce the "stepped effect on the exterior of the containerinthe drawings Figs. 10 and 11. .0'bvi-.. ously if the stepped wall formation of the` container is to be exteriorly thereof as 'in Figs. 10 and 11, the dimensions of the sleeves 10, `l| and l 2 would' have to be such as to effect snug tele-` soopio engagement with' each other and the innermost sleeve lll, in this instanoe, Would 'of course have -to be so. dimensio-ned as -to have 'its lower portion snugly engagethe upstanding wall of the -tray. f In the same vein; the wall 24 of the tray |8 may either be integral'with the bottom I 9 or otherwise conveniently associated wi-th that bottom and in any event,`this wall, as aforesaid;`` constitutes in effect a sleeve. l In order to convenently and readily pack the hereinbefore described blocks of Synthetic rubber or the like into the container, which isfour feet or more tall when assembled, the lower portion'` of the sleeve I2 is telescoped over the upstandi a` wall `'or sleeve 24. This upwardly opening portion is` then -packed with the synthetic rubber sections l, and Finland T in the manner shown in Fig'. 8. Two of the blocks are arranged in'side-by-side relationship longitudinally and another is disposed transversely at the end of the two blocks successively reversing. The positioning of the longitudinal and transverse blocks is successively reversed, as

shown in Fig. 9, until the lower portion of the container is filled, and this same procedure of packing the blocks is followed until it becomes necessary to telescope the sleeve l l over the sleeve I2. This same procedure of packing is followed until it becomesnecessary to telescope the sleeve ID over the sleeve H. The box spacked to the top or slightly beyond the same as shown in Fig. 6.

In Fig. 6, it will be noted that when the -container is initially fully packed with the blocks, the blocks disposed in the lowermost'portion of the container engage the inner faces of the upstanding sleeve all around the bottom of the container; whereas, the sides and ends of the superposed blocks in the container are spaced from the interior stepped wall formation of the container as denoted at S. The size of these spaces increase slightly toward the top of the container. The uppermost portion B' of the blocks, When the container is initially filled, projects beyond the open end of the container and, in some instances, a whole layer of these blocks will project beyond the open end of the container. However, due to the flowable characteristics of the blocks, the same will gradually settle down in the container until the upper surfaces of the upperm-ost blocks will be at least fiush with or -below the top edge of the container, see Fig. 7. Thus the container willbe completely filled and there will be no Spaces S between the sides and -end edges of the blocks and the'interior walls of the container, see Fig. 9. The cold flow characteristics of the blocks will result in a downward and laterally outward thrust. This thrust is the greatest at the lowest section of the container, Which is reinforced from the bottom to the top in such a manner that objectionable outward defiection of the Wall at any point, due to the lateral out- Ward thrust of the blocks, is prevented.

Once the container has been loaded to capacity with these blocks, it can be handled as a unit by conventional fork lift trucks or the like and can be shipped and stored as such until ready 'instances, it is found -desirable to either apply a sheet of kraft paper or the like to the end thereof or to use a co-nventional end closure or cap for the container to protect the contents from the elements, dirt, dust, etc.

When it is desired to unpack or remove the blocks or other products or materials from the container, the tape l4 or the glue strip, or the wall of the sleeve I is cut vertically and then simply ripped off. This exposes the upper successively packed rows of the blocks and allows them to be removed manually or by a suitable mechanical device for further processing.v This same procedure. is followed bysuccessively cutting of the sleeves Il and I2. Thus there is no problem in the ready and quick unp-acking of the blocks or the like from the container.

When the sleeves have been thus cut and removed, they may be readily folded and stored or discarded.

With this construction, no staples, Stitching, gluing, etc. of the sleeves to each other or to the tray is necessary. This is very remarkable particularly since the container is adapted to carry 2500 pounds or more of products, material or commodities therein. Under the most critical of such situations, one would expect that considerable Stitching, stapling, etc. Would be necessary as well as exterior steel bands or the like. However, due to the unusual and unique -wall formation resulting in the reinforced sections of the container, sufficient rigidity is attained by the frictional engagement of the combined cooperative and component elements. It should be understood, however, that the spirit and purpose of the invention may not be circumvented by the use of stapling, Stitching, adhesive securing, etc. of these component elements together. Staples, Stitching, etc. may be utilized but it has been found that they are not necessary and, in packing and shipping synthetic rubber blocks such as described herein, they -are indeed undesirable.

As indicated, c-ontainers embodying the present invention are especially useful for packing, shipping, and storing synthetic rubber blocks. These synthetic rubber blocks will adhere to paperboard and to each other during shipment and storage unless properly protected. A preferred method of overcoming this objectionable feature is to enclose the blocks in Pliofilm or other material compatible with the rubber so that it is unnecessary to remove the protective media from the blocks prior to further processing. Conceivably the protective media may be sprayed or otherwise applied to the blocks prior to Packing them in the containers.

It is to be noted, as -depicted in the drawings, that the innermost sleeve or wall 24 and the inner exposed superjacent portion of the next succeeding sleeve |2 are each of substantially the same height, and the combined height of these two exposed portions is substantially equal to the exposed portion of the superjacent sleeve ll Whereas the exposed ortion of the longer or outer sleeve l substantially equals that exposed portion of the sleeve l I directly subjacent thereto. This, of course, results in the interior stepped formation of the wall structure. The exposed portions of the telescoped sleeves define the sections hereinbefore referred to. V

The overall dimensions of one embodiment of the container in this invention` are 60-inches high, the side walls 42 inches and the end walls 28 inches.

The collapsed sleeves IO, li, I2 and the collapsed tray |8 in Fig. 18, it will be understood, can -be packed and shipped as such and, of course, this reduces the bulk in the initial packing and shipping of the component elements comprising the container as embodied in the present invention.

What s claimed is:

1. A tall heavy duty rigid container for shippng and/or storing material therein comprising a relatively shallow collapsible tray having a fiat bottom with an upstanding wall thereabout and a plurality of open-ended collapsible sleeves, the sleeves each being interiorly unobstructed throughout their lengths, snugly telescoped and of greater successive lengths relative to each other and the said upstanding wall, the lower portions of all the sleeves being in parallel relationship with each other exteriorly of the outer surface of the upstanding wall and with the lower portion of the innermost sleeve in snug engagewherein three sleeves of different lengths are utilized. v

3. A container as defined in and by claim 1 wherein the shortest sleeve is positioned next to the said upstand'ng wall and other sleeves are telescoped over said shortest sleeve successive v in the order of their increasing length.

4. A container as defixed in and by claim wherein the longest sleeve of said plurality of sleeves is positioned next to' the said upstanding wall and other sleeves are telescoped over said longest sleeve successively in the order of their decreasing length.

5. A container as defined in and by claim 1 wherein said tray comprises a bottom panel with opposed side and end Walls secured thereto, each wall of a pair of said opposed Walls having a fiap extending from each end folded into flatwise relation to a face of the adjaoent Wall, and wherein the said sleeves and tray are maintained in their cooperative relationship relative to each other solely by frictional engagement with one another.

WALTER C. GEORGE.

JOHN A. BOUSQUET.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 315,'155 Fitch Apr. 14, 1885 1,98'1,461 Boeye Jan. 8, 1935 2,094.783 Belsinger Oct. 5, 1937 2,510.004 Williams May 30, 1950 2,564,948 Beck Aug. 21. 1951 2,570,340 George Oct. 9, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 471.607 Great Britain Sept. 8, 1933 

